Cornmeal – about 2 lbs worth that I’ve had for about two years now, saved in a Ziplcock

You’ll probably want to set this all on a big blanket. Be smart about sensory bins, especially if your child is new to them, and this sets EVERYONE up for success.

Dump the cornmeal and the animals into the smaller storage bin, then place it all inside the larger bin. Add the tongs and set the ice cube tray next to the bin.

RELATED: Ever wonder what kids are learning when they play with a sensory bin? Here’s the answer.

Time to get these animals rescued.

My daughter carefully used the tongs to rescue each animal to take them to safely in the ice cube tray.

I warned you this wasn’t a fancy activity, but it’s a good one. She had all sorts of imaginative play going on with these animals as she carried them to safety.

(Not to mention she’s getting a great fine motor skills work out going using those tongs to pinch.)

She restarted this activity then took it from there…

Once she had rescued all the animals from her sensory bin, she dumped them all back in the cornmeal. Time to find them again!

The next time, though, she moved on from rescuing them and started playing her own imaginative games with the supplies she had. She sat with that bin for more than 20 minutes playing with the animals and her cornmeal.

A simple animal sensory bin for the Mom win.

I was pretty happy with how this one came out, with no real effort or fuss from me. Toddler activities don’t need to be Pinterest worthy to be amazing. They just need to capture little attention spans… and this animal sensory bin does just that.